


Black Hill Snippets

by littlesolo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-04-21 13:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 14,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4830578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesolo/pseuds/littlesolo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Small bits of Black Hill stories</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Air Vent Boost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judging distances can be tricky when you're small...

Natasha was trying to get into a high air vent and scooch the rest of the way in with small kicks when she only half made it (it’s higher up than she calculated)

“I got it! I got it! Almost– HEY!!!”

*Maria gives her a shove that sends her tumbling the rest of the way*

“Thank you! But gently would be nice you know! There IS a drop here on the other side!” 

 Maria heads back to the computer terminals, grumbling about short assassins. “HEY!!! I CAN HEAR YOU OVER COMMS YOU KNOW!!” hisses Nat. 

 "You were supposed to!!   _Feared assassin_ …..watch for dust bunnies, yeah?“ 

"Goddamnit Maria!" 

 "You going to need help getting out?" 

 ” _Maria_!!!!!“


	2. Passing Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chess is Maria's wheel house

They’re waiting to testify before another committee. Fortunately, Maria has brought her tablet (the one without any work files or anything else important) and they’re able to play chess while they wait for their turn. Currently, Clint is being questioned and Maria isn’t worried because between Clint’s dumb act and spin on answers he’ll give them enough trouble. Then Maria takes a look at the board. They’re three quarters through a good game.

“Wait, what are you doing? You can’t do that!” argues Maria.

“I didn’t like my move so I’m taking it back” replies Natasha with a swipe of her finger on the undo key.

“Fine, but you can’t just undo my moves too!”

Maria is known for her brilliant tactical mind, something the woman down plays and hides and Natasha always forgets about until she’s nearly boxed in. She’s good at reading ahead too but there’s always at least two possible options that Natasha hadn’t considered and that she knows Maria was counting on. Not that her face would ever give that away. Maria’s nearly as good as she is. Nope. Between that knight and those two pawns, she’s stuck especially since she’d been minding the bishop and rook. Maria hasn’t spared the board a second glance either, which means she has a few more tricks up her sleeve she’s not sharing…. Looks like she’ll just have to even things out. Bugging Maria is just a bonus, not that it ever does her any real good in the long run though.

“HEY! QUIT HITTING UNDO!!! _I took your queen fair and square!_ ”

* * *

 Maria pouts (which Natasha finds adorable) because it’s one of the few things she can beat her in. But she can’t _WIN_ if Nat keeps making them _START OVER_!!!! And she had her in three…..


	3. Pool Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Person B spitting out their drink the first time they ever see Person A in a swimsuit

Bruce blinks at Natasha, her drink dripping down his face from where she abruptly spat it at him. He wipes his glasses and looks over at what caught Natasha’s attention. 

  
Well, it’s a good thing she didn’t choke. Maria had been ordered to take some vacation time by Fury, Steve, and Pepper. At the moment she was using Tony’s pool to swim a few laps in a blue suit that fit her in all the right places. 

  
“ _A- HEM_ ” growls Natasha. Bruce feels his face go red, having probably been staring at the Commander and mutters some nonsense and wanders away.

Looking over his shoulder he watches Natasha go over towards the poolside.


	4. That's Not Blush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria has food allergies

Maria has food allergies. Not like _oh my god call 911 she ate a peanut_  allergies but she has them. For her it’s cantaloupe and honey dew melon. Nothing serious happens, her cheeks just get bright red and itch a little and it only ever really happens if she eats too much of either one.

“Maria… aren’t you allergic to cantaloupe?” asks Natasha when she spots her girlfriend sporting bright pink cheeks.

“Hmm? Um, maybe?” answers Maria around another fork of orange melon. She reaches up and scratches as her cheek without thinking, causing Nat to wince. She knows that it won’t impact Maria’s work or anything, but she looks a little like an animated character with her cheeks that color pink.

“Shouldn’t you stop eating it? I mean your face is really…pink” says Natasha.

“But it’s so refreshing!” counters Maria. She does look like a happy little kid…. and who is she kidding? She’s never been able to tell Maria no on something like this. She’ll just call Sharon to make sure there’s nothing she should do for Maria later.

 


	5. Back Up on Stand By

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Low rent help always has draw backs- for Both sides

Inchy schwinchy.  

Inchy schwinchy.  

Just because she's so... let's go with compact.... just because she's so compact shouldn't mean she always gets stuck with the vents!  

This is one of the rare times Maria is in the field with them too.  Clint is off somewhere with a high powered rifle and she is finally in position in the vent above Maria in case she needs back up.  

 _THAT_ is one hell of a dress Maria is wearing.  It's the kind of dress Pepper or Sharon might pick out for her.  A slinky dress.  A dress the Widow might wear.  Natasha smirks because she knows Maria hates wearing that kind of thing since there's no place to put weapons.  As if Maria couldn't take some one out with her shawl.  

Suddenly there's a rattle in the ducts that wasn't made by her.  

Both Maria and the mark look up.  

There's someone else here.  

Maria lunges.  

* * *

  
"Hair pin through his jacket to the jugular.  Nice" comments Natasha as she limps and Maria helps her down the back stairs where Clint waits with the car.  

"Thank you.  It minimizes blood spray that way.  Easy!  Can't have you falling down the stairs on top of everything else!" says Maria, tightening her hold on the small assassin.  

"What kind of _idiot_ uses a shock grenade in a metal air duct anyway?" grumbles Natasha as she leans into Maria's side.  


	6. Paperwork Pressures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria always makes sure Natasha does it at some point

Natasha gets to her paperwork eventually!  She does!  There’s no reason for Maria to make such a fuss.  

 _Sigh_.  Might as well get started.   _Folder, folder, folder_.  This will take forever.  Mission reports, incident reports, medical reports.  She feels sorry for whatever poor sap does all the transcribing and filing.  

 **Medical Report: _Please give an account of how your injuries were sustained_.**   

Well that’s easy enough.  She’d sustained the bites to her arm when she’d gotten into a scuffle in the enemy lab.  While fighting she’d thrown a soldier into the cages and set the lab animals free.  Then she’d been bitten multiple times by some of the lab’s apparently rabid… bunnies.  She’s not writing that.  Why did they always have to experiment on bunnies anyway?  She’d have no problem fighting or writing down dogs.  Actually, she was still waiting on her blood work to see if the rabbits had been infected with anything else.  

**Incident Report: _Utility Tunnels_**

That… That wasn’t their fault.  Nat loved working with Sharon’s brother Kevin.  He was a good guy and his medical training usually came in handy.  Not this case though.  The item recovery had gone off without a hitch.  A simple seize and place into the protective container that could withstand anything.  The utility tunnels were the best route for this and everything was going fine.  And then there was a rumble.  Followed by a boom.  Monsoon season is very sudden.  The rain comes down in sheets and flows through the drains like waterfalls.  In minutes it’s up to their knees and the two of them are struggling to carry the crate between them.  What’s worse is in the time that the storm has started the drain they used to enter became an intake.  They eventually make it out soaked, cold, and this close abandoning the item all together.  Phil won’t even tell them what the item is.  Was it that hard for him to look at a weather report before hand?  Sharon keeps them from killing him, but it isn’t all that hard.  They’re too tired and water logged.  She promises that Maria is waiting with pizza and beer.  They follow after Sharon, their shoes squelching as they walk.    
  
 **Mission Report: _Perth_**  
  
Well, that didn’t really need explaining did it?  Two totaled cars (that’s only counting the ones that she drove), three people held hostage (for less than a day), one governmental server hacked, and yes there were bodies but there always bodies and bonus!  All these were known enemies or at least their associates!  Sarcasm never goes over well in paper work though.  It either means she has to do it over or Coulson sends her to Psyche “just for stress”.  He is not the guy he used to be.  A play by play will go on for pages and Natasha doesn’t have time for that.  She’ll get a hand cramp and already sort of has to pee.  She’ll be bursting half way through and stopping part way will mean she’ll stop caring.  But Maria will be mad…. eh, she got two done.  That’s enough for one day.  Besides, she’d gotten the intel, the asset, and gotten out alive.  Hee hee hee, Bobbi had been so mad at Hunter for getting her in that mess in the first place, she would have stayed and watched, but Maria dragged her to medical after seeing their car flip eight times.    
  
That’s enough paper work for one day.  


	7. Spider Bites of a Different Sort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She just wrapped it. She's fine.

“What the hell happened to your hand?!” asks Maria as she comes into the lounge where Natasha is sitting and Clint is rummaging through the fridge.

Nothing. At least nothing Natasha wants to talk about.

“Found one” says Clint, setting an orange next to her left hand. Her massively swollen left hand. “Told you they’d be about the same size” he adds with a smug grin as he takes a shot with his phone. For the kids, no doubt, but she levels him with a glare that makes him shrink back. It makes her feel a bit better.

A spider. A stupid spider.

They’d been in a jungle in Rio and hiding from one of the hunting parties sent after them. They’d gotten what they needed and were told that there were to be as few bodies as possible on this one. So when the spider landed on her, she hadn’t flinched. They have yet to find a poison she’s not immune to. It doesn’t mean she won’t have a reaction though. The stupid thing had scurried down the back of her hand and that was fine but out of no where it bit the back of her left hand. She squished it under the bottom of her boot. Clint had gotten increasingly panicked as her hand seemed to inflate in an allergic reaction of some sort, despite Natasha telling him she didn’t have those.

Natasha takes out her knife, one that Clint had missed, and goes to stab at her hand only to be stopped by Maria.

“No.”

“Maria!”

“No!”

“It ITCHES!”

“So we’ll get something to put on it! I’m not going to watch you stab at it and get temporary relief only to have the scabs itch too later, or watch puss or something come out, or if Clint has his hope, your hand will deflate like a helium balloon sound effects and all.”

“I said nothing!” remarks Clint from where he’s peeling another orange.


	8. Smudged Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarifying paperwork

Done with dancingbean14

* * *

  
She's all itchy but all they can give her is some cream.  Between her hand and her healing bites, Natasha is going nuts and had finally resorted to visiting medical.  Fat lot of good that did her.  She's grumbling to herself and pulling her sleeve back down when she hears someone clear their throat.    
"Clean bill of health?" inquires Maria.  Natasha rolls her eyes.    
"That's if you don't count the itching."  Something is off though, and she can't put her finger on it.    
"There's an error in your medical report.  The ink is smudged and I can't make out what you said bit you" says Maria.    
Natasha shuts her eyes.  There is always a way out.  Windows, air vents, something.  Only she opens them to see that all exit routes have been blocked.  Maria folds her arms and raises one eyebrow questioningly.    
"Baboons" says Natasha without thinking.  She gives what she hopes to be only a mental wince.  She didn't like that answer either.  Maria took a step closer.  "I may not be an expert Romanoff, but I'm pretty sure baboon teeth do not leave bite marks like that."    
Natasha then grumbles every curse she knows and crosses her arms.  "They might have been....rabbits" answers Natasha, refusing to look at Maria.    
Maria blinks then, an incredulous smile flickers at the corner of her mouth.  "Rabbits?  As in bunny rabbits?  The small fluffy creatures kids keep as pets?"    
"No!  I'm referring to the little red beady eyed creatures that took bites out of my arm!  Fluffy little demons!  They counted twelve!"    
"Bunnies?" asks Maria, biting her lip against laughing.    
"Bites!"  Natasha does a double take.  "Don't tell me you were one of those kids who had one..."  
"No I had a dog."    
"Thank God" mutters Natasha.  Maria looks away and shakes her head, grinning.    
""Look, don't worry  about it.  I'll fix the paper work--" starts Maria.    
"But it won't mention rabbits, right?" interrupts Natasha.    
"Nat, it needs to be accurate so we know what our enemies are doing in terms of experiments" explains Maria.    
"That's great.  Just don't include my name or rabbits!"  

* * *

 

Pietro is speeding down the hall when he pauses for a moment.  He could have sworn he just saw Natasha tackle Maria from behind.  "Hey kid, you ready for our training session?" asks Clint.  Pietro shakes his head clear.  He must have just been moving too fast.  


	9. Interference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who decided to put a bell in those things anyway?

Maria is finally done with the endless meetings for the day and is back in her office.  Her chair is not what anyone would exactly call comfortable, but it’s familiar and after hearing about “oversight” all day it feels godamn luxurious.  If she heard someone say the word “morale” one more time she was going to beat some one with their own fancy leather portfolio.  Leaning back, she stretches as far as the chair will let her and lets the kinks out of her neck.  It’s the first two minutes she’s had to herself all day.  

_Dingle Dingle Dingle_

What the hell?  

_Dingle Dingle Dingle_

Maria sits straight up in her chair, her fingers already have the safety off her gun when she notices the post it on her monitor.  

“ ** _The vet says Liho’s okay but should take it easy, so I put her here to keep you company! -Nat_** ”  As if the smiley face at the end of the note made up for it all.  

_Dingle Dingle_.  

Where the hell was this cat?  Nat’s stealth cat.  Maria swivels in her chair and peers under her desk but there’s nothing.  

_Dingle Dingle Dingle_

And if Liho was supposed to take it easy, who gave her the damn ball?  Maria shakes her head and tries to focus.   _The request for the medical files of Agent 13 pertaining to the date of September 22, is denied due to_ –

_Dingle Dingle_

Her grip on her pen tightens.  Natasha will kill her if she just lets the creature roam the halls.  There’s a meow from her left and suddenly she has a lap full of a black cat.  Maria narrows her eyes but Liho doesn’t seem to care.  She simply claws herself a comfy spot on Maria’s lap (ignoring Maria’s winces) and curls up.  Now that the cat is settled, Maria tries to get back to her paper work.  There are various things that cross her desk.  Clint has requested a leave of absence to visit his family.  Maria has signed the first part of her name and is on the H in “Hill” when Liho swats at her pen.  

“Liho!” scolds Maria.  The cat merely blinks up at her.  Filling the form again, she’s on the R this time when her pen is swatted by a black paw.  

“Damn it Liho!”

There’s a knock at her door and Natasha slides her way in.  

“Your cat is here” states Maria.  

“This feels very much like a Godfather moment” says Natasha as she takes a seat in one of the chairs across from Maria’s desk.  “I figured you must get lonely when I’m not here keeping you company and doing paper work.”  

Maria arches an eyebrow.  “And how often does that happen?  Was the dingle ball your idea?”  Liho hops from Maria’s lap and pads over the desk to settle on Natasha.  

“Dingle ball?  What ball?” asks Natasha as she scratches Liho’s ears.  

* * *

In his office, in the left hand drawer of Nick Fury’s desk, sits a package.  It’s for a set of three rubber dingle balls and one is missing.  


	10. So Much Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria has so much power...just not as an ordinary civilian.

"No...hmm?  No... I PAID my bill.  Hmm?  Yes.  No.  No, I paid that and it turned out to be over---"   
Natasha watches Maria as she talks on the phone to their provider.  They are on leave and one thing they tend to forget are the drawbacks to isolated vacation homes.  For instance, Tony isn't their wireless provider.  No, their current provider has cut their service stating that there is a delinquent payment.  This is simply not true.  Natasha knows Maria has this sort of thing set up on auto pay on their alias' account.  Still, here they sit without cable, internet, or phone.  Natasha is only slightly worried that the Second in Command of a clandestine organization is going to organize an air strike on a small office building.  Then they'll NEVER get their service bad.    
"No, you refunded me a check for the amount I overpaid so how can there be a delinquent payment?  Hmm??  No!  Don't put me on hold!  DON'T PUT ME ON HOL-!" Maria groans and lets her head fall forward and hit the table while annoying elevator music versions of pop tunes come from the phone.    
"You can't kill them" reminds Natasha gently as she set a new cup of coffee in front of Maria.    
"Can so!  This is ridiculous!"  Maria's rant is interrupted by the pleasant little voice on the line reminding her that this call may be recorded.  Natasha moves behind Maria and rubs her shoulders to try and keep her calm.    
The vacation spot is so remote that without the service, their limited to just their phones.  Don't even Maria started on how often they have to replace their phones.  They get shot, blown up, wiped, emp blasts, melted, and so on.    
But they were on vacation so no missions were supposed to happen or actions sanctioned.  But between the hold music and the person on the other end of the phone, Natasha wasn't sure how long that was going to last.   


	11. Drawbacks of Civilian Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria's license expires
> 
> This is an old one that was left in my drafts folder from who knows when

Maria wants to bash her head into something. Actually, scratch that, she wants to bash someone else’s head into something.

Her driver’s license had expired.

This meant going down to the DMV. That she had no problem with. No, she had a problem with the fact that it meant she’d have to give her fingerprints too. Some states it was only a thumb and others it was all ten digits.

This was only a problem because she was Maria Hill, Nick Fury’s right hand. Ever since SHIELD’s fall, she was under so much public scrutiny. Seeing as how she was the former Commander of a clandestine organization, anyone could see why having her fingerprints floating around would be a bad thing, right? In fact, she’d be willing to bet money that within twenty four hours her prints would be leaked to federal agencies and the press.

She was Maria fucking Hill and could pilot any aircraft and kept helicarriers in the air. Of course she could drive.

To avoid the whole thing, she briefly considered Pepper’s idea of hiring a driver, but given how often she found herself in the middle of a fight or battle of some sort, it just wasn’t practical.

The fact that Natasha finds the whole situation funny isn’t helping. Especially since Nat’s license doesn’t expire until 2024.


	12. Enter At Your Own Risk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's October tradition

It’s October, which means Maria has started her Halloween ritual. Every year, starting with October first, Maria tries to watch as many horror movies as she can in her spare time. Natasha has come to love this ritual as well. The movies range from old ones with Vincent Price and Peter Cushing to recent ones, remakes, and over the top ones that are more parody than actual horror.

Thing is, one of their favorite places to do this is in Maria’s office during their lunch break.

It’s generally assumed that the screams being heard coming from the office are the two women watching an interrogation taking place. Really, it’s probably the two of them watching Misery or Last House on the Left, but hey it leaves the two of them in peace to have a pleasant lunch.


	13. Musical Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha uses her Ipod to explain things

Daisy is feeling uneasy.  Bobbi has told her to relax, but she can’t.  She, Jemma, Bobbi, and Mac caught a ride.  A ride with Natasha, Sharon, and Isabelle Hartley.  That’s right, Isabelle isn’t dead, but after he last mission with Coulson and later finding out that had he contacted Clint or Nat, he could have gotten a quin jet without all that trouble, she’d rather stay off of Coulson’s roster for any further missions. 

But Daisy is somewhat star struck with all of these incredible women in one place.  The whole thing seems surreal and that’s saying a lot given what’s happened to her over the past year.  Part of what’s making everything awkward is that Natasha was tasered in the throat on her mission with Sharon and for the moment can’t speak.  

Bobbi rolls her eyes at the continued stunned silence of her two colleagues and leaves Mac and Izzy chatting in the back of the jet.  

“Okay, that’s it” starts Bobbi, causing Natasha to raise an eyebrow and Sharon to look at her as she retrieves her water bottle.  “We’re going to do something.  A question and answer session-” Natasha starts to roll her eyes.  “BUT Nat can only answer with songs from her Ipod since she can’t talk.  Otherwise you two will stare and make the entire ride awkward” says Bobbi.  Natasha huffs a small laugh and gives Bobbi a look that says “ _like it isn’t already?_ ” while Jemma blushes and is flustered.  Daisy is game though.  

“Okay, is there any standard advise for going on missions?  Like something that always applies for you guys?” asks Daisy.  Natasha thinks for a moment and then fiddles with her Ipod that’s hooked up to some of the jet’s speakers.  Sharon spits out her water as  _Superstition_  by Stevie Wonder begins to play.  Once they control their laughter, Jemma asks a question next.  

“How about after missions?”  Natasha fiddles again and  _Signed, Sealed, Delivered_  begins to play.  

“Seeing as how you usually report back to Maria, do you mean the mission or you?” asks Bobbi with a grin.  Natasha shrugs with a smile and shares a look with Sharon, who answers for her.  “Both.”  

“How about when a mission goes wrong Nat?  What do you tell Maria then?” calls Izzy from the back.  

After a moment of fiddling,  _I Just Called to Say I Love You_  starts to play.  Izzy cracks up.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by putting my Ipod on shuffle and discovering Stevie Wonder was on it and then playing every song by him I had. Also by too much caffeine. Probably a one shot unless there’s interest. (What else is on my Ipod that I’ve forgotten about??)


	14. Musical Explanations Part 2

As the ride goes on both Daisy and Jemma loosen up a bit.  But Natasha still likes to have a little fun. Making the two young agents squirm qualifies.  

“So what do you think of Coulson as Director?” asks Jemma.  Natasha gives a snort that is echoed but Izzy.  

“The better question is how he sees us?” clarifies Sharon.  Natasha rolls her eyes and  _[The Golden Vanity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fEGY3x3dMI)_  starts to play.  Jemma winces at the song’s ending.  

“I’m sure it’s not quite like that…” says Jemma.  

“Coulson lost his hand you know…” adds Daisy, trying to defend Phil but she’s had her doubts and still does sometimes.  So has Bobbi and Jemma.  

“That’s the cost of doing business in our jobs.  Along with a dose of karma” says Izzy as she goes to make herself a drink.  Sharon and Natasha share a look.  Phil has lost their trust.  He knows nothing of Clint’s family and little of the Maximoff Twins aside from their existence and a vague understanding of their powers.  They’re all safer that way. He still has no idea Victoria Hand is still alive and Daisy and her team were only let on the jet on the condition that he not know that Izzy is alive either.  Something Bobbi had already known about.  

The tension in the room is unsettling so Daisy changes the topic.  

“I thought you normally worked with Barton?” says Daisy.  Natasha tilts her head side to side.  She gives Daisy a look as if to say “Missions with Clint are…”.   _[Ain’t That A Kick In The Head](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb4P-MZMzJs)_  by Dean Martin begins to play.  Bobbi laughs because as far as missions with Clint go, that’s pretty accurate.  Which is why she can’t help ask.  

“And how’s working with Sharon?”  Natasha points towards Sharon and raises an eyebrow.  After fiddling with her Ipod for a moment, she smirks as  _[Cosmic Dare (Pretty With A Pistol)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43q9QiwW3I)_  starts up.  Sharon merely smiles and tilts her water bottle in thanks.  

The music is interrupted though and suddenly  _[Blue Skies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K01YNsa_8m8)_  by Doris Day begins to play.  

“Seriously?  That’s your ringtone for Maria?” asks Bobbi.  Natasha grins at her. 

“Question” interjects Sharon.  “How you going to explain  _this_  to her?” says Sharon.  Natasha seems flustered for a moment but then tosses the phone to Sharon.  

“Natasha I am  _not_  explaining all this!” hisses Sharon.  

“ _Sharon?  What’s going on?  Why are you answering for Nat?_ ” comes Maria’s voice over the line.  

Damn it.  But then there’s the sound of Maria heaving a sigh.  

“ _How bad is she hurt this time?_ ”  

Izzy and Bobbi don’t even bother hiding their laughter.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might fix Sharon’s song later but it was what came to mind first…


	15. Off Duty Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria and Natasha finally go on vacation

Vacations don’t come often for Maria and Natasha.  It’s not that they don’t enjoy them, it’s just that with Maria as Nick’s right hand and her work with the Avengers, there’s always something that needs her attention.  Or something will come up seconds before she sets foot out the door.  

And then there’s Natasha.  Natasha is the best at what she does, which is why Nick still reaches out to her for a mission every once and a while.  That’s on top of her Avengers assignments too.  She might be Russian, but she really wishes Nick would just use an encrypted phone or hell, even a carrier pigeon because she nearly froze her ass off the last time she went to meet him.  She will never understand the appeal of ice fishing, but hey Nick didn’t vacation much either when he was Director so it makes sense he wouldn’t know how to retire.  

Back to Natasha though.  Missions took time and could vary from three days to three weeks and even three months sometimes.  With missions came the occasional injury as well, and Natasha never does things by half.  Why sprain your ankle when you can be side swiped by a car and sent flying through a store front’s plate glass window?  

So between missions, injuries, the obligatory public appearances, there really isn’t much down time for either woman.  That’s where Pepper and Sharon come in.  Pepper manages Maria’s schedule and asks Steve to take Natasha off active duty.  Sharon threatens everyone she has to in order to make sure that this vacation actually happens.  

Which is how Maria and Natasha actually find themselves in a vacation house that Clint sometimes uses with his family.  It takes a while, but they finally stop checking their phones or waiting for them to ring.  Maria spent the morning watching the movie CLUE and then had a hankering for some stromboli.  Thing is, going to a restaurant or grabbing it out of the freezer aisle just won’t do.  Aunt Peggy taught her to make it right and this is what has her going off to the nearest grocery for ingredients.  

But Natasha got bored without Maria around and went out for a bit too.  

When Maria returns it’s to the sound of someone rummaging through small plastic bricks.  Only after the stromboli is in the oven does she bother to go and see what Natasha’s up to.  

The living room area in front of the tv is covered in Lego pieces.  

“Don’t those belong to Clint’s kids?” asks Maria as she makes her way over.  

“Some of them.  Shit.  I should have separated theirs from the rest” mumbles Nat.  Maria then catches sight of at least five large boxes thrown by the side of the couch.  

“What the?  How many did you buy?” asks Maria.  The little plastic bricks seem to cover every inch of carpet.  

“A few.  We are on vacation.  Did you know they make Avengers Legos?” says Natasha, not looking up from the structure she’s building.  

“Avengers Legos?  Is that Stark Tower?” asks Maria as she hunkers down next to Natasha.  Maria begins looking over the Tower and opening all the doors and seeing all the things and hidden compartments it has.  

“Made us too” says Natasha as she hands two figures over to Maria.  

“How?”  Natasha shrugs.  

“Court TV?”  

Maria finds herself building a better version of the jet.  Natasha isn’t surprised that by the looks of it, Maria’s almost making it to scale.  Maria peaks over at what Natasha is making.  It looks like once she finished with Stark Tower she started making the rig from Mad Max Fury Road.  

The timer goes off and Maria rushes to go check on their dinner.  

“ ** _OW!_**   Mother Fucker!” cries Maria as she steps on something sharp.  She looses her balance and falls over onto the glass topped coffee table where Natasha sees her ankle twist painfully.  

* * *

Maria is sitting on the couch pouting and glaring at the small Iron Man figure sitting on the coffee table.  She’d stepped on his stupid little out stretched arms.  Natasha pulled their dinner out just in time and they’re waiting for it to cool off a bit.  Natasha knows a twisted ankle when she sees one.  That and the fact that it’s swollen and blue.  Maria is stubborn and refuses to go to the hospital, since they’re on vacation, so an ace bandage and a bag of frozen peas will have to do.  

Nothing is messing up this vacation for them.  Not even Tony Stark in Lego form.  

* * *

That doesn’t mean they won’t hold it against him when they get back.  Tony wants know how Maria got hurt.  He’s asked Pepper and gotten he evil eye.  There was no way he was asking Sharon, he knows better.  The one time he tried to ask Maria threw her crutch at him.  He ducked the first one but made the mistake of pressing the issue when he peeked back around the door frame.  The second one hit him in the nose.  

Natasha kept all her Legos.  

Except for the Iron Man figure.  


	16. Family Get Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween and meeting family

Natasha has been to family gatherings before. Sort of. Well, she’s hung out with Clint and his family, so that counts right?  This is some sort of Halloween potluck that the Carter family had, a get together where Maria, Sharon, and Kevin could get a chance to see everyone and play with the little ones.   

When she and Maria arrive, Kevin and Sharon are already there. Sharon is holding a baby dressed as an elephant as she comes towards them only to have someone call her from behind.   
“What?” calls back Sharon without thinking, and the baby starts crying loudly.   
“Geez, gimme him! C'mon you” coos Kevin as he takes the still screaming baby from Sharon’s arms. Sharon glares at Kevin as he makes faces and the boy begins to settle.  

“Scaring everybody” mutters Kevin and then drops his voice to a stage whisper, “and she’s not even in costume!”  

“Anything wrong with you is probably because you were dropped when you were little” grumbles Sharon as moves back towards the house.   
“By you?” throws back Kevin.   
Natasha watches Maria hold back a grin. Natasha has worked with Sharon before and likes her but seeing her surrounded by family and is a different look. For Maria too, when she thinks about it. Whether in the field or on the bridge giving orders, both women are always in command of the situation. Here though, with Maria’s Aunt Angie calling her and what Natasha guesses is Sharon’s Mother calling her, flustered is putting it mildly. Kevin grins at her from the door way.  

She sits with Peggy Carter briefly and the two of them watch the hustle and bustle of the family. Peggy explains who’s who and eventually Natasha gets drawn into a balloon fight and is pummeled by small children into surrender when her own balloon pops.

She hears Kevin argue with his Mom and watches Maria get apparently re-taught by Angie in how to prepare food.   
“I don’t even want to guess how many of your meals involve a microwave” grumbles Angie and Maria wisely says nothing. Natasha, however, snorts knowing exactly how often that is and it gets her pulled into the cooking too.  

Angie is putting the finishing touches on the stromboli and is shoving them in the oven when another woman enter the kitchen behind her followed by Kevin.  

“Aw Ma, c’mon.  No one likes squash, I don’t even like to  _say_  squash” says Kevin.  She shoves a bowl at him.  

“Well it’s not for you, it’s for everyone.  Now go put it on the table before I hit you in the head with something.”  Natasha is trying to suppress a grin when Helen Carter turns her eyes on her.  “So you’re seeing Maria” she says, looking Natasha over with a critical eye.  

“It’s a bit more serious than that…” says Natasha, but she can’t help but be a little unnerved by Helen’s stare.  “Um, does it help if I intimidated Phil into letting us have the night off?  You know Halloween brings out the crazies and the same is true for SHIELD.  Let him deal with it” tries Natasha.  Something shifts in Helen’s gaze and then she wipes her hands on her apron.  Natasha is just beginning to feel like she’s off the hook when Helen pins her with her stare again.  

“At least your lasagna is good.  Don’t screw it up.”  And with that she takes the tray of stromboli Angie hands her and walks out to place them on the table.  Natasha lets out a long breath and turns toward Angie with a raised eyebrow.  

“Hey, Pegs and I already like you, but Helen hadn’t met you yet.  Also, that was probably only part one” explains Angie.  

“She’s scary” mumbles Natasha.  

“Happy Halloween” says Angie with a smile.  

After dinner Natasha and Maria hand out candy on the stoop of the apartment.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> may continue if interest… based on prompt… maybe the dinner?


	17. Soulmate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick soulmate AU by request. Keyword - Eventually. 
> 
> Do you know where you are?  
> These are the words on the inside of Natasha’s left arm. The words her soulmate will say to her.

_Do you know where you are?_  
These are the words on the inside of Natasha’s left arm.  The words her soulmate will say to her.  

With her skill set, knowing where she is essential.  A mistake, a wrong turn, getting lost, can lead to being captured or killed.  Until she does it on purpose.  

 _“Do you want to come back with me?”_   It’s what Clint Barton asks her when he lowers his arrow a bit when they first meet.  

 _“Do you know who I am?”_  are the first words Nick Fury says to her in an interrogation room, his second lingering in the background.  

Natasha starts again as a SHIELD agent.  In between her missions with Barton she wanders the helicarrier.  

 _“Do you know where you are?”_  asks a voice from behind her.  Spinning in place, Natasha turns to see Maria Hill walking towards her tucking a tablet under her arm.  She knows the words and knows what the tingling feeling on her inner arm means.  Still, it takes a minute for her to connect it all together with the woman in front of her.  “You’re in a restricted area” continues Maria.    Natasha had been lost in thought and let her feet lead her, something that Maria seems to pick up on.  “You probably would have made your way back here at some point, wouldn’t you?” asks Maria with a raised eyebrow.  Natasha shrugs.  

“ _Eventuall_ y” answers Natasha.  Maria feels the word on her ankle tingle.  

Natasha senses Maria feeling the same sensation she just had.  

“Well, if you’re done lurking, would you like to join me for a meal in the mess hall?” asks Maria after a moment, extending her hand.  

“Spying, not lurking” corrects Natasha, accepting Maria’s offer and hand.  

“You’re one of us now, it’s lurking” argues Maria.  Natasha smirks.  


	18. Wrappings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:

“ ** _Stay back…_**  that cake is for  _later_!” calls Natasha from the living room at Barton Farm.  

Maria is hovering next to the counter where there sits a chocolate cake decorated for the holidays.  Natasha is currently tangled in a mess of ribbon and tape next to Laura where she is busy wrapping gifts.  

“Just a bit of frosting from the bowl…” says Maria as she edges towards to the sink where the bowl sits.  Natasha isn’t worried though, she has a back up plan. 

There’s a sort of war cry and then Maria is knocked away from the counter.  Cooper and Lila tackle Maria’s legs and it’s all Maria can do to remain upright.  

“Hey!  No fair with a secret STRIKE team!” cries Maria as she tries to wrestle Lila away from her waist.  Clearly Natasha has been teaching the girl a few things because now she’s on Maria’s back.  

Natasha watches as Maria staggers her way over to the couch.  Christmas stories and memories were usually just an added detail to her cover stories.  Since coming to SHIELD and meeting Clint’s family, she has created a handful of holiday memories of her very own.  

Maria strains towards her on the sofa, Cooper tying her ankles with ribbon and Lila taking care of her wrists.  

“All I wanted was some frosting you know” says Maria.  Natasha smirks and kisses her forehead and then places a ribbon on top.  

“It’s for later.”  


	19. Catholic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're not even catholic!"

“Will you relax?  Just say a few hail Marys and you’ll be fine” whispers Natasha.

“How would you know?  You’re not even catholic!  That’s not how it works!” hisses Maria.  

“Are you?” throws Natasha over her shoulder.  

“A very lapse one but yes.  What part of me isn’t Irish is Italian, so it’s like a rule” answers Maria with a sigh.  

They’d been late to their scheduled dead drop point.  Which is why they had to break in.  To a church.  God help her if Aunt Angie found out about this.  The church had closed due to reports of an oncoming snow storm.  For once, the meteorologists had it right on the money.  

If they’re being accurate though, at the moment they’re breaking out, having gotten what they came for.  

Only for Natasha to get stuck.  

“Crap!  My pant leg is caught!  Maria!!”  Maria scrambles back to her side through the falling sleet and snow only to slip and nearly smash right into her.  Nat is dangling most of the way out, her leg caught on the window.  Bracing her legs against the wall, Maria heaves at the straps on Nat’s bag.  There’s a loud rip and Natasha is free.  Natasha grabs at the scrap of her pants and they hurry the four blocks to the waiting car.  

“Heater!  Heater on please!” shivers Natasha.  Her pants have been reduced to practically shorts at this point and they’ll have to get Natasha into something warm before she gets sick.  

And the only place nearby is Aunt Peggy and Angie’s where Maria and Sharon keep some spare clothes.  

Great.  Maybe they won’t be asked to explain….


	20. Simple Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Put me down, I can walk!”

It was just supposed to a simple afternoon of shopping for gifts.  It almost had been, too.  Maria had a gift when it came to gifts and was hitting a bunch of hole in the wall shops.  An intricate necklace pendant for Wanda, a stuffed toy created from one of Lila’s drawings, some creative toys for Nate, that sort of thing.  

So an afternoon of braving the crowds was taxing enough for anyone, but no.  

No, today, a day free of gun fire and explosions, Natasha had to get into a fight with an elf.  Now part of this is Steve and Tony’s fault.  Steve’s for bringing them to the area where she happened to shopping and Tony’s for provoking the fight.  Everyone knows that Nat is touchy about her height.  The fact that Santa’s elf happened to be taller than her didn’t help matters.  

No, Maria is just paying for a present for Pietro, when she heard the unmistakable yelling of her girlfriend.  

“Put me down, I can walk!”  

Maria heaves a sigh and turns towards the ruckus.  Not everyone is a fan of the Avengers, that’s to be expected.  Seeing someone dressed in red and green tights with bells on their shoes get into a shoving match with the Black Widow is a first though.  Oh look, there are children watching.  Fantastic.  

Tony is laughing so hard he’s near tears and Steve is carrying Natasha under her arms away from the elf as she continues to kick out at him.  She makes her way over to where Steve has carried her.  Natasha spots her through the crowd.  

“No Santa jokes” growls the assassin.  Maria smacks the back of Tony’s head since he’s caught in a fit of giggles still.  

“Really?”

“He started it” grumps Natasha.  

“Yeah well, we’re leaving before you beat him to a pulp with a candy cane.  C’mon” replies Maria as she tugs Natasha along with her.  

It really was supposed to be just a simple day of shopping.  


	21. Decorations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Miss me?

There’s a sound from downstairs. Maria rolls her eyes and gets out of bed, reaching for her gun. This time she can be certain it isn’t the cat because Liho yawns at her from the end of the bed. With a healing wound in her leg, she’s not as quiet as she’d like and her attempt at stealth is making a sweat break out on her forehead. Limping down the stairway, she turns, gun raised.

There is Natasha and Kevin wrestling a large pine tree into a stand.   
“Hi.  _Miss me?_ ” asks Natasha from around a branch. Maria lowers her gun, completely dumbfounded. First of all, Natasha and Kevin are supposed to be deep in a Bosnian forest. Second of all, there is a tree in her living room.

“Natasha? Is the stand ready? This thing is heavy” complains Kevin from the other side of the tree, branches poking him in the face.

“What? Oh yeah, set it down” instructs Natasha, remembering what she was doing. There’s a knock at the front door and Maria turns to see Sharon there. Sharon gives her a look over and sighs.

“Neither of you thought to call ahead so you didn’t get shot?” asks Sharon as she sets down a box of decorations.

“That would have spoiled the surprise” answers Nat as she holds the tree while Kevin tightens it in place. Sharon goes over and takes the gun from Maria and helps her make her way to the sofa.

“There’s a tree in my living room” says Maria. Natasha turns, tree lights in hand, and for a moment looks unsure.

“Well, Sharon and my place are only used for sleeping really, Nat won’t tell us where her place is, but she basically lives here anyway, and yours is the only place big enough for a tree” says Kevin, gesturing for Natasha to hand her the lights.

“You two are supposed to be freezing your asses off in a forest somewhere” says Maria as Sharon double checks her bandage. Sharon shakes her head at Maria’s sloppy rewrapping and begins to redo it for her.

“We got called back. Gift horses and all that” says Natasha.

“And it’s not like we could cram this thing over at Mom’s” continues Kevin. The small apartment where Kevin and Sharon had grown up could be described as cozy, bits of Helen’s two children still scattered everywhere despite their having moved out. If Maria remembers, there is still a baseball bat and a pair of hockey sticks in the corner next to the door.

“What’s happening now?” asks Maria, a bit lost.

“Well, this year, with our work schedules clear for the most part and barring any major catastrophe, we’re going to have a proper holiday. Who treated this?” explains Sharon as she looks at Maria’s leg.

“What happened to you?” asks Natasha as she pauses in putting ornaments on the tree.

“Recovered tech with a self destruct if breached” answers Maria. There had been a soft whirring and then it seemed to melt right before exploding. Maria had dived behind a lab desk but her leg had been struck by a molten piece. Natasha made a face at the sight of the large burn.

“Sloppy techs” growled the assassin, hanging a fragile ornament a little less than delicately. Finishing with the wrapping Sharon opens a box and joins the others. Kevin darts his head out from behind to watch his sister for a moment.

“You’re doing it wrong” says Kevin.

“What?” asks Sharon crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at her brother.

“You’re decorating wrong. Do it like Natasha” states Kevin. Sharon proceeds to argue with Kevin at how there is no ‘wrong’ but Maria sees the tenseness leave Natasha’s shoulders. Maria realizes then that this might be Natasha’s first Christmas spent with a family other than Clint’s and is probably wondering if she’s doing everything right. Little does Nat know, when it comes to Maria and her little family, if nothing gets destroyed and there isn’t a brawl of some sort, they count it as successful. Well, scratch that, sometimes a brawl is what makes the holiday. Sharon and Kevin have devolved to throwing tinsel at each other from around the tree.

“Where’d all this stuff come from?” asks Maria as she scoots over to sift through the box of decorations.

“I bought them” admits Natasha with an adorable blush.

“Mom kept every stupid ornament we’ve ever made but that’d make your tree look like it was decorated completely in popsicle sticks” comments Kevin.

Maria lunges and grabs Liho, who had snuck downstairs, just as she was about to pounce on the tree. Nat gives her a wink as she hangs another decoration and Maria smiles back at her. This is going to be a perfect holiday for once.


	22. Decorations - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sequel to Decorations where Natasha mades some ornaments of her own

When they had been decorating the tree, Natasha had noticed a box that Sharon had brought with her.  Inside, packed in old paper and carefully wrapped, had been old home made ornaments or ones that had sentimental meaning.  Natasha had a few ornaments like that over at Clint and Laura’s, but none that were of her time with Maria.  

Kevin had noticed her…. she hadn’t been brooding, she doesn’t do that, and suggested that she make her own.  “It’s not hard.”  She suspects he was lying when he said that part, because having assembled all the ornaments and supplies she’d need (with help from Laura over the phone) she had no idea where to start.  This also might be easier if she hadn’t just broken three fingers on her left hand on her last mission.  

On a blank ivory ball ornament, she had used colored sharpies to make an impressionist looking picture of a tea mug in front of a snowy window.  But it didn’t mean anything about them really.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  Here, in Maria’s apartment with a cup of tea she feels at home and completely at ease.  

She’s seen some of the popsicle stick stars that Cooper and Lila had made and that had her dedicating the better part of an hour making a snowflake out of toothpicks.  Thankfully, she’d thought ahead enough to put down newspaper before starting with the glue, but it was a toss up as to whether the papers were now glued to the table.  

For inspiration, she goes and looks at the ones from Maria’s childhood on the tree.  There’s one that is made around a photo of Maria with Sharon and Kevin from when they were around ten.  Hmm.  She doesn’t do photos really.  The press has more than their share but there aren’t any of her and Maria, and even if there were, she wouldn’t use them.  Pulling her cell from her pocket she shoots a text off to Sharon and Pepper.

 **NRoff:**  Do you two have any pics of me and Maria together?

 **PPotts:**  Why?

 **SCarter:**  Clint if this is you having stolen Nat’s phone, you’re dead

 **NRoff:**  Making ornaments….

Within seconds she has more then enough photos sent to her phone from both women.  Slicing up a few tongue depressors, she rigs a frame for a globe like decoration and when the glue dries she slides in six photos of her and Maria from various moments.  The photos are all candid and neither of them are aware of the camera.  It’s interesting seeing these moments from someone else’s point of view.  Natasha blushes at how obvious her love for Maria is on her face but glows at how Maria has the same look.  

When she’s done, she has three ornaments, sharpie staining her fingers a number of colors, and glue having possibly fused her bandaged fingers together permanently.  

“New ornaments?” asks Maria when she gets home.  

“Yeah” answers Natasha with a shy smile.  Maria takes all three in, spinning them carefully between her fingertips.  Hanging them on the tree, she returns to Natasha’s side and leans down to give her a kiss.  

Neither notices Liho peeking at them through tree branches, but spring apart when she bats a cheap ornament down.  The bulb falls to the floor and shatters.

“We may have to make one for Liho too” comments Maria.  


	23. Santa’s Demented Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "How did that happen?"

Natasha is lounging on the couch when she hears the apartment door open and then quickly slam shut and the locks being thrown into place.  She sits up, her body tense, but relaxes again when Maria comes into view.  She notices that Maria looks a little…ruffled and there’s a large stain on Maria’s jacket.  

“How did that happen?” asks Natasha as she watches Maria angrily shrug off her jacket.  

“Santa’s demented elf” grumbles Maria.  

“What?”

“ ** _PATRICE_** ” seethes Maria.  

Ah. Well that would certainly explain it.  

“Three high level operations in progress and the woman is organizing a Secret Santa in the office!  I’m getting reports that one of our teams is in desperate need of an evac and she’s trying to get me to pull a name from a freaking Christmas stocking!!”  Natasha has met the agent in question and the woman’s devotion to Maria is frightening.  She’s also seen Maria come home from days with the woman where the only thing to do is let Maria vent.  

“She replaced some of my pens with candy canes and then tried to put a cinnamon stick in my coffee, which is how it spilled, still hot, all over me!”  Natasha gets up and puts the kettle on for some tea.  Maria sinks on to the couch and crosses her arms.  “Bet she’s hung mistletoe somewhere too” grumps Maria as Natasha hands her the mug.  Natasha runs her fingers through the hair at the base of Maria’s neck. 

“No worries.  Everyone knows better than to try to get you under it, otherwise they’ll have to answer to me” assures Natasha with a kiss to Maria’s forehead.  

“But  _Patrice_ …”

“It’s just a few days and then we’re having a holiday of our own that will be completely Patrice free.  We’ll spend time together and then visit Sharon and Kevin, and then spend New Years with Clint and Laura.  If we feel up to it, we can make an appearance at Stark’s New Years Eve shindig, but we don’t have to” soothes Natasha.  They won’t be attending, Natasha knows this already since she already has something special planned just for the two of them….


	24. Cut Off Limit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too much coffee

Maria is working something big, Natasha knows this.  Some important mission that has had Maria in her office for the past two days.  She’s dropping off a fruit salad so that her girlfriend can keep her strength up, but also so that she can get a glimpse of her.  

After a knock, she opens the office door and inhales the scent of old coffee.  Sitting on the edge of Maria’s desk are four take away cups, undoubtably of the largest size, from the nearby coffee house.  More sit in the trash can and old mugs are stacked next to the small coffee maker on the file cabinet.  

Natasha can see the slight tremor in Maria’s hand as it glides across the page of her pad as she makes notes.  The soft ding of her computer monitor has her looking up every few seconds for another update on how things are progressing.  

“How are things going?” asks Natasha gently.  Maria’s head snaps up to notice her so quick Natasha hides a wince.  

“You mean after everything went to hell in more ways that we thought possible?  The intel wasn’t remotely accurate, the maps out of date, and the CI’s we had in place in need of protection ages ago.  We scrambled and got the ones out we could and now it’s just a matter of getting them all out in one piece.  They’re on foot since the terrain is a mixture of boulders and sand pits…”  Natasha notices that Maria is speaking rather fast and gesturing hurriedly with her free hand.  She discreetly replaces Maria’s steaming mug with a cold bottle of water from the mini fridge.  She idly wonders how many times Maria has burned her tongue.  If Natasha remembers correctly, four large coffees is usually Maria’s cut off and mentally curses herself for not checking in sooner.  She hands Maria the fork and set the fruit container close by and Maria starts eating without really thinking about it as she works.  Here’s hoping nothing else goes wrong since until Maria gets something in her other than coffee, she’s going to be high strung for a while.  


	25. Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Can we talk about this?"

They’d made these plans back before Thanksgiving so it’s not as if they’re last minute.  Recently though, Maria seems to want to back out.  She always has piles of work on her desk, but she’s never used that as an excuse before.  Not when something meant this much to Natasha.  

Natasha has been puzzling over it for days and has resorted to calling Kevin for help.  Unfortunately, he’s on a last minute mission, so she calls Sharon.  

“What’s up?” asks Sharon.  Natasha had taken a moment to try and organize her thoughts while Sharon ordered her coffee but it hadn’t helped.  She did get a kick out of Sharon trying to order a simple coffee amid all the holiday season brews and specials.  

“Maria’s being weird” says Natasha.  She really doesn’t know how else to put it. It doesn’t seem to impress Sharon, who raises an eyebrow at her.  Natasha sighs.  “We’re supposed to go and see Clint and his family over the holidays but now she’s… it feels like she’s trying to back out.”  

“She give an excuse?”  

“Work” answers Nat as she shifts in her seat.  This feels like tattling almost but she doesn’t know what else to do without getting mad.  Sharon sets down her cup hard and it gets Nat’s attention.  

“That’s a shit excuse” says Sharon with narrowed eyes.  “What did you used to do for the holidays?  Before Maria?”

“Spent it with Clint and Laura.  I even have a stocking there.”  Something seems to have dawned on Sharon that tugs the corners of Sharon’s mouth into a smile.  

“What” demands Natasha.  

“Were you nervous meeting me and Kevin?” asks Sharon instead.  

“What?  No.  I’d worked with Kevin before and you too.  Didn’t know that you and Maria are practically sisters… I don’t know.  It was weird hanging out with the two of you off duty at first…but what does that have to do with anything?”  

“Clint and Laura are as much your family as Kevin and I are hers and she’s nervous about meeting them” explains Sharon.  It’s one of the things Natasha likes about Sharon and Kevin, they explain things to her without making her feel stupid or with a pitying expression.  

“But she  _knows_  Clint and was the one to do the paperwork for his family, so she’s met them too” says Natasha.  It doesn’t make sense.  

“Has she been around them though when it didn’t have to do with business or a crisis?”  

“Parties at Starks!”  

“His wife and kids weren’t there.  But even so, it wouldn’t be the same.  No this is like… when we roped you into one of our street hockey games.  You were nervous about playing too rough-”  

“Yeah and then it turns out the three of you are bloodthirsty” interjects Natasha with a grin.  

“Competitive” corrects Sharon with a smirk.  

* * *

Natasha goes back to the apartment and sees Maria waiting for her on the couch and looking guilty.  

“Can we talk about this?”  Natasha walks over and puts her hands on Maria’s shoulders.  

“They’re going to love you, stop worrying” reassures Natasha.  Maria lets out a sigh and nods.  

“Okay.”  


	26. Gift Giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You got me a new gun?"

Shopping for presents is harder than Natasha thought.  Shopping for Maria at least.  She’s consulted Laura, Pepper, and Sharon for help but their advice didn’t make things easier.  Normally, she can find that one gift for someone, it just catches her eye or when all else fails there’s always a gift card.  But Maria’s gift should be more than $100 at Amazon.  

The others had suggested something personal or meaningful.  The only thing wrong with presents in general when it came to Maria, was that she was a lot like Natasha in that they tended to travel light.  That is, they valued memories more than objects.  She had noticed that Maria’s old jacket was getting worn and starting to smell, so getting a new one for Maria’s birthday had been a no brainer.  They both liked to read, but the bookcase in Maria’s apartment was overflowing with books yet to be read.  They just never had the time.  There’s movies but they always seem to fall asleep mid way through.  She had yet to see the end of the King Kong remake.  

So Natasha resorted to what always worked.  Something practical.  

* * *

“You got me a new gun?” asks Maria.  Natasha shifts on her feet.  She’d noticed that Maria had lost her gun on her last mission.  Well, not so much lost as it was melted.  So she’d gotten something she knew Maria needed.  A new personal back up piece.  

“It has a no slip grip and I think it’ll fit your hands better than your old one.  Should be a bit smoother too” rambles Natasha.  

Maria looks up.  She knows how nervous Natasha is, but she had held off getting a new gun because she knew Natasha would get her one.  She trusted the red head’s judgement and not because she was an assassin.  No Natasha took in everything about those she cared about.  Her leather jacket was tailored to her figure and had just enough pockets.  

“I love it Nat.  Thanks.”  

Natasha lets out a sigh of relief.  


	27. Not Her Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liho is sick

Liho isn’t Natasha’s cat. Natasha has stated this over and over. Liho is just some cat.   
So that’s why they’re here, sitting in a vet’s office. Over just some cat.

The assassin had called her in a panic that had Maria bolting out of bed and scrambling into her clothes.

There was something wrong with the cat, that much was clear and had Maria googling the nearest pet hospital. Liho would be fine, according to the doctor, but when Natasha had called her, she’d been a teary mess. It might have been the last straw after a mission gone bad or just a long day, but Maria had a feeling the black cat meant more to Natasha than she let on.

Seeing the two reunited makes Maria smile as Natasha rubs her face against the soft fur of the cat’s back. And then Nat’s giving her cat eyes.

Oh. The bill. Right. Maria sighs and pulls out her wallet.


	28. Close Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You’re afraid that you’ll lose me in crowds so you always hold my hand but now you’re doing it other times too and I’m getting suspicious.

It starts on a mission in Mongolia.  They’re trying to lose a tail and Maria grabs onto Natasha’s arm so that she doesn’t lose her as they’re jostled by the crowd as they get away.  

Sometimes holding hands is a part of their cover.  They play a couple very much in love in Paris.  Maria’s hands are so soft and smooth with callouses on her finger tips.  Her thumb rubs small circles on the back of Natasha’s hand while they wine and dine their mark.  

When the bullets start flying, Maria’s hand is around her wrist, tugging her towards cover and keeping her safe.  Her fingers tighten around the collar of Natasha’s jacket, holding her back, when she tries to attack Sitwell for sending them into the middle of that set up.  

But then Maria’s hand is in hers when they are relaxing and watching a movie.  Natasha keeps her body relaxed, but her mind can’t help but wonder if this has some how simply become habit, or if there’s more to it.  Realizing that it’s not just a hand on her arm or in hers, but it’s Maria by her side, Natasha finds she doesn’t mind and squeezes Maria’s hand.  


	29. Deserted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: We happen to be the only two people stopped at a rest stop when a huge storm blows in so we’re stuck there together for a while.

Ever the Commander, Maria had made sure all personnel and essential data had been evacuated first.  There was a sandstorm coming that was supposedly capable of destroying part of the outpost.  Maria does her job well, but Natasha isn’t leaving without Nick Fury’s second in command.  

The last jet has taken off when they get a call on the radio that the storm is too close for their jet to land.  The wind is howling and they run into the metal hanger housing a hummer and climb inside.  The wind screams and they watch the flaps at the front pull free and flap wildly.  Maria tells the pilot that they’ll ride out the storm in the hanger and then it’s just a matter of waiting.  

Natasha doesn’t know the Commander very well, but she doesn’t expect her to crawl into the back seat and tilt her hat over her eyes and relax.  She isn’t sure she’s ever seen Hill not busy doing something.  Noticing that she’s being stared at, Maria lifts her hat briefly to look at Natasha.  

“What?”  Natasha shrugs, tilts her seat back, and plants her feet on the dashboard.  This is how she likes to spend her time in instances like this, but maybe it’s due to all her missions with Clint that makes the lack of chatter unsettling.  

“Nothing the Second in Command needs to be doing?” asks Natasha.  

“Catching up on sleep is always on my to do list” answers Maria.  Natasha smirks.  If there’s anyone that is possibly more overworked than they are, it’s Maria Hill.  

“No evaluations or performance reviews?” 

“Whoever started the rumor of that being what I do most of the time is going to find themselves retasked with disposing of medical waste.”  

“Really?  That’s the worst you can come up with?”

“Consider what condition you all tend to come back in.  I remember that puss that made the whole medlab smell for a month” answers Maria.  Natasha makes a face.  The pus had eaten through their suits and taken practically steel wool to get off their skin.  It had also reeked to high heaven.  

While the wind and sand whip away outside, Natasha finds Maria Hill to be quite interesting.  She finds herself revealing things about herself as well.  She tells the Commander about Liho, who Maria says sound suspiciously like the feline who lurks in her bushes until Maria puts out food.  It would explain where Liho goes some evenings, but Natasha keeps that to herself.  

When the storm is over, and the jet picks them up, Natasha has reevaluated her opinion of the Commander.  She’s not the uptight controlling person she though.  They also have plans for drinks later.  


	30. After Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: There’s a dead body in my apartment

Maria has had a day from hell.  Well, a week really.  She’s finally away from the helicarrier for the first time in weeks and wants nothing more than to flop into her bed and not be in command of anything for a few days.  

Except there’s a dead body in the living room of her apartment.  

Maria sighs and felt tears well up, but takes a deep breath and pulls out her cell.  She speed dials a familiar number and it picks up on the second ring.  

“Was this you?”

“ _Was what me?_ ”

“There’s a dead body in apartment.  Are you saying that someone  _else_  is responsible for this?”

“ _I’ll be there in ten_ ”

“Nat!  Nata-” Maria hangs up and lets her head droop.  Her energy reserves were gone days ago so she pulls the remaining dregs of energy from her afternoon coffee and goes for a plastic drop cloth from the pantry.  

Natasha arrives and inspects the body and then looks at Maria.  

“You go lay down, I’ve got this” decides Natasha, and Maria is too exhausted to argue.  Grabbing her duffle, she retreats to her room.  Sometime later, Natasha comes in and Maria feels the bed sink as she settles next to her.  

“So I called around, and Sharon is responsible for the body, which is gone now by the way.  She was squatting and someone mistook her for you apparently.  Amateurs” scoffs the red head.  Maria hasn’t moved.  Actually, Natasha isn’t entirely sure she even heard her.  If it wasn’t for the rise and fall of her body, she couldn’t tell if she was even alive.  The Commander is dead to the world and Natasha finds it endearing.  It’s not the picture of vulnerability that most imagine, but more of Maria’s hair unkempt from running her fingers through it in frustration and collapsing onto the pillow.  She can tell she’s sleeping well and deeply from the way she’s drooling onto her pillow.  Natasha removes her boots and then watches as Maria adorably curls into her sheets and snuggles in deeper.  

What seems like days later, Maria wakes up only because her bladder’s urgency.  She’s just finished washing her face and is making her way back to bed when she notices her tv is on.  She’s still so tired that she’s almost beyond caring, but instincts have her gun in hand already.  

She doesn’t expect a small assassin on her couch.  

“Hey.”

“Hey” murmurs Maria.  She isn’t self conscious, but her free hand needs something to do, so she runs it through her hair.  

“Took care of everything, but you were really out of it so I figured I’d stay and update you later.”  

“Coulda left a note.”  Maria wants to smack herself.  She meant to say something along the lines of thank you.  

“Yeah, but my fridge is empty.  So is yours for the most part, so I ordered a pizza” answers Natasha.  Maria plops herself next to Nat on the couch and snags a slice to ease her hunger pains.  

“Thanks.  For everything.”  Natasha responds with a shrug.  “What are we watching?”  

“Some BBC mysteries.  Poirot and Foyle’s War” answers Nat as she grabs another slice for herself.  Maria nods, but even now she can feel her eyes drooping.  

“The guest room is free” she mentions before drifting off again.  Natasha smirks and pulls the blanket off the back of the couch and covers up the Commander. She lowers the volume and turns on the subtitles.  She’ll explain what happened next time Maria wakes up.  


	31. Afterwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "What did you do this time?"

Like everyone else, Natasha saw the news coverage and that’s what has her on her way to the medlab.  Some idiot decided to try and attack a convoy.  Natasha’s blood had run cold as she watched Maria’s SVU get rammed into an embankment and and then flip over and over until settling down in the middle of a ravine.  

“What did you do this time” asks Natasha as she approaches Maria sitting on a gurney.  There’s blood all down the side of her face and she’s holding her left arm close and gingerly.  

“It’s not as bad as it looks” starts Maria, but having said those very words herself numerous times, Natasha knows Maria is lying.  The doctor takes Maria’s arm to treat it and there’s no hiding that wince.  Natasha makes her way over and brushes Maria’s hair aside to examine the cut on her head.  It goes across her forehead and another half inch would have taken out her eye.  

“I’m fine” insists Maria.  Natasha absently nods as her fingers graze Maria’s bruised cheek.  

“Looks like you got hit pretty hard” comments Nat.  “Concussion?” she asks the doctor.  

“Possibly” he answers as he wraps a wrist, carefully avoiding Maria’s glare.  When he declares her done, Maria goes to get up but stumbles a bit.  Natasha catches her good arm and wraps it around her shoulders.  

“C’mon.  I’m taking care of you for a bit.”  Maria knows better than to argue.  

 


	32. Snow Removal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: There’s too much damn snow on my car and I can’t get it all I’m so tiny.

“There’s nothing to eat here!”

“There’s plenty on fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge” replies Maria in what Natasha calls her “Mom voice”.  And that may be true, but Natasha is looking for something crunchy to munch on.  

“Can I use your car?” asks Nat.  Maria doesn’t look up from her paperwork, but points towards the key bowl.  Grinning, Natasha grabs the keys and her coat and heads out the door.  

It snowed the night before.  She knew this because she and Maria had spent part of the night watching the flakes fall.  What she hadn’t known was how much had fallen.  There’s a good four inches covering everything, including the car.  Pulling on her gloves, Natasha goes to clear off the snow.  

Some ten minutes later, Maria looks up at the sound of the door opening again.  There stands a small Russian covered in snow.  She raises an eyebrow at the somewhat embarrassed expression on Natasha’s face.  

“I can’t reach all the snow to get it off the car.”  Maria hides her smile behind the hand holding her pen.  

“Need a hand?”

“Yes please.”

Maria really couldn’t resist shoving a lump of snow onto her.  


	33. Air Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: I fell asleep on your shoulder and you were too polite to move or wake me up.

There are some things about Natasha that Maria envies.  For instance, despite the fact that they were picked up from their op less than fifteen minutes ago, Natasha is sound asleep in the seat next to her.  Maria still has adrenaline racing through her veins and occupies her time by making notes for her report later.  She knows it will be a while before her nerves settle.  

The mission had gone sideways from the beginning, the group they were meeting being more than a little jumpy as well as trigger happy.  Sometimes it seemed like Sitwell was doing his very best to get her killed.  

The only reason they’d managed to get out with a few scrapes and bruises was because when it came to missions, Maria preferred to gather her own intel.  She knows how Jasper runs a show and it relies too much on luck for her liking.  

She’s deep in thought when something settles onto her shoulder.  Maria looks over to see Natasha nuzzling to make herself comfortable.   _How can she sleep?_  

“Says the woman doing paperwork…” comments Clint.  Her face must have revealed her thoughts.  She shrugs with the arm that isn’t in use.  

“Right now I can remember everything that caused that cock up.  Later, I’ll just be trying to keep myself from killing Sitwell” growls Maria.  Perhaps it’ll be enough to get Sitwell reassigned.  They hit a spot of turbulence that has them lifted from their seats for a moment.  Natasha gives a sigh and grabs on to Maria’s arm, snuggling close and completely oblivious.  Maria raises an eyebrow and passes her pen to her other hand and continues writing.  

Later, Natasha slowly blinks awake.  There’s something resting on her head.  She hears a click and looks across from her to see Clint holding up his phone with a picture of Maria asleep with her head resting on hers.  Natasha kicks out and Clint’s phone flies into her hand where she deletes the photo, but not before sending it to herself.  Then she relaxes and dozes for the rest of the trip. 


	34. Boost 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do I need to get you a box to stand on?”

Re-tasking a satellite isn’t easy, but it’s something that Natasha can do no problem.  

Well, usually.  

At the moment, she’s having a bit of trouble.  The box she needs to reach is up high and the maintenance ladder that was supposed to be there is missing.  

“Do i need to get you a box to stand on?” grunts Maria.  

“No!  You need to hold still!” growls Natasha back.  She is balanced on the palms of Maria’s hands as Maria extends herself as far up as possible.  She can just make it to the panel.  Maria holds her steady but her hand trembles slightly as she reaches for the tools tucked into her sleeve.  

Moments later, the job is done.  She leaps off and it makes Maria stagger and hit her head on the wall.  

“Ow!  Thanks for the warning!” gripes Maria as she rubs her head.  

“Sorry.  Let’s get out of here” whispers Natasha as she checks the corridor…


	35. Waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t be silly. I want to stay up with you."

Part of being an agent is knowing the risks.  They do their best to minimize these risks with intel, tech, and training, but sometimes all that isn’t enough.  Natasha knows how important Maria’s family is to her.  The Carter had all but adopted Maria when she and Sharon were in Middle school and since then they’d looked out for each other.  At the moment, Kevin is in surgery.  Sharon is unreachable on a mission, so there’s only Maria waiting to hear of his condition. 

Natasha watches as Maria sits hunched over in the medical waiting area, her knee bouncing rapidly as she stares off into space.  It doesn’t last long though, and then she’s on her feet and pacing or gazing out the window.  Kevin’s mission had gone wrong and he’d been shot three times and had his ribs kicked in.  He’d gotten the ledger out too though.  Natasha knew how important that ledger was, they’d been trying to get at it for the past eighteen months.  It held the names of various individuals and corporations with HYDRA ties.  At the moment though, the intel is the furtherest thing from Maria mind.  

Natasha has been back to check on Maria twice already.  There isn’t anything she can do about Kevin, but she can look after Maria.  She sees the sandwich she left earlier has been barely nibbled on.  

“Have you called anyone?” asks Natasha.  Notifying family is always a toss up given their jobs, but they could at least tell Peggy, right?  Then Maria wouldn’t be shouldering all this alone.  Maria looks as taught as a wire but exhausted as well.  It’s the shock.  It always makes you feel so tired.  

“There’s nothing to tell yet and having them here worrying won’t help” answers Maria absently.  

Here’s where it gets tricky though.  Natasha knows they’re more than friends.  Girlfriends would probably be the best term, but it doesn’t sit right with Natasha.  It seems too…juvenile.  It likens it to the love that she relates to children.  Given everything thing they’ve been through both on their own and together, Natasha knows how rare finding someone is and feels it deserves a better name.  But that’s for another time.  Right now, Natasha is wondering if Maria needs… no wants her by her side.  Is this something that she’d rather deal with on her own?  Natasha likes Sharon and Kevin and has gotten closer to them, but they’re Maria’s family and she doesn’t want to intrude.  

That’s when Maria seems to really notice her.  That she’s still lingering nearby.  

“Nat.  You don’t have to stay.  The doctor said it’d be a while yet” says Maria with a tired smile.  

“Don’t be silly. I want to stay up with you” answers Natasha.  It comes out sounding not as sure as she would have liked, but Maria seems to get it.  Natasha takes her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze and some of the tension leaves Maria’s shoulders.  Looks like she did the right thing.  


	36. Checking the List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naughty or nice?

It had started as just a fun website that Natasha had been on with Clint’s kids. One of those sites that tells you whether you’re on Santa’s naughty or nice list.

“No.”   
“Come on! It’s just for fun” says Natasha as she spins Maria in her office chair back to face the computer.   
“Nat I have a million things that I’m supposed to be doing!” argues Maria.   
“Meaning you need a break!” counters Natasha. Sighing, Maria gives in and enters her name in the little box and presses enter.

MARIA HILL SHOULDN’T YOU BE WORKING INSTEAD OF SURFING THE WEB DURING OFFICE HOURS….NAUGHTY LIST FOR YOU!

Maria tilts her head to glare at Natasha.   
“Santa really has your number, doesn’t he?” asks Natasha with a poorly suppressed smile. Maria shoves her towards the door.


	37. Looking After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You really scared me! You have to take better care of yourself!”

Natasha is the agent, the operative, the Avenger, and the one who tends to come back in need of medical attention.  

She’s also one of the few who knows, who remembers that what Maria does from her desk and from her consoles on the carrier is just as important as the missions that she carries out.  

But sometimes Natasha forgets.  

It’s easy to forget.  On missions with Clint, they look out for each other.  She watches for bullet and knife wounds, bruises, scrapes, and broken bones.  Battle fatigue.  Homesickness.  The need for Clint to hug his children, to remember that they’re safe and that they are what they fight for.  

So, she forgets to notice, to see the toll the job takes on Maria.  Between missions, she is exhausted and doesn’t take note of the whiskey bottle on the side board.  Of how many coffee filters there are in the trash can and how the smell of coffee is fresh in the apartment.  She doesn’t notice how many times Maria rubs her neck or runs her fingers through her hair.  And then she’s off again.  Of to save the world in some small way that no one will ever know about.  

It’s only when she returns for the third time that she notices that something is wrong.  She finds Maria asleep at her desk and can’t wake her up.  Extreme exhaustion is what the doctors call it.  Maria had been skipping meals and running on fumes for days.  They hook her up to an IV and recommend letting Maria rest.  

Natasha has always been in the field and forgets about what all goes on behind the scenes.  The intel and plans for their high profile mission are all gotten by various agents, but it’s Maria who reviews it all.  They fight for the safety of the world, the greater good, but it’s Maria who takes into account all the logistics.  What area will the mission cover?  How many people are put at risk in neighboring areas?  Will there be innocents involved?  Transport?  Medical?  STRIKE teams on standby?  Evacuation of civilians.  Relocation.  Support afterwards.  It easy to forget it all doesn’t just happen on it’s own.  

But Maria looks after them too.  Makes sure they stop through medical, despite their protests.  Makes sure they have time off even if it isn’t wanted.  For Natasha, Maria is always there, whether she needs her as a sparring partner or someone to talk to.  

But who looks after Maria?  

When Maria blinks awake almost a day later, Natasha lets her worry show.  

“You really scared me!  You have to take better care of yourself!”  Maria tries for a smirk, but it looks more like a grimace.  

“Sorry.  Just got bogged down it the details” answers Maria.  


	38. Family Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “I have a giant extended family and you barely have any family at all and this whole Christmas routine is getting tiresome for me but I can tell that you’re really enjoying yourself because it’s something you never got to do and watching you interact with my ancient relatives is fucking adorable” au

Every year, Maria stops by the old nest to say hello and happy holidays at one of the family gatherings.  She always goes because when she doesn’t, Aunt Peggy, Aunt Angie, and Sharon and Kevin’s mom Helen show up at her place to make sure she’s okay.  And if she is okay, why didn’t she show up?  

This year, Maria brings Natasha with her.  

The Carter family practically adopted Maria when she was young, so now she’s part of this loud and rowdy Italian-Irish family.  There’s always a lot of eating and drinking and Christmas is a much bigger deal that Thanksgiving.  

One of the wonderful things about coming home, is that here Peggy Carter isn’t the former Director of SHIELD.  Sharon isn’t Agent 13.  Here, in this household, the job and the titles stay on the sidewalk and the same goes for Peggy’s place too.  

Usually, these get togethers are too much for Maria.  When she shows up, it’s only because she has to and is probably the first time she’s left work in a week.  Right now though, she’s watching Natasha decorate cookies with the little ones.  Kevin is putting a new batch in the oven and Sharon is helping Peggy cut some fresh ones.  Maria has no idea how long she’s been staring but is brought out of it when Helen nudges her and raises an eyebrow at her.  Then Maria gets roped into making pasta with her and Angie.  

Maria knows that Natasha has spent holidays with Clint and his family before , but that’s just five people.  This is cousins and their children and family friends.  There are at least eight children here.  When Maria catches up with Nat later, there’s tomato sauce on the thigh of her jeans and flour still on her arms.  Natasha doesn’t seems to care and plants a kiss on her cheek as she darts off behind Sharon and a hoard of kids with a soccer ball.  Kevin is already outside and setting up the goals.  Maria gets pulled into the game and is against Natasha this time.  Nat may have many skills, but it’s the fast paced energy of children twelve and younger that really wears Maria out.  The game comes to a close when Helen yells that dinner is ready.  The kids all scramble by to load up their plates.  Natasha’s palm is bleeding from where she caught herself and Maria’s knee is torn and bleeding.  Kevin has a shiner  from where Sharon caught him when they were battling for the ball, and Sharon has skinned the outside of her arm all the way down.  Maria can’t imagine spending the holidays any other way except if it had snowed maybe they’d be playing hockey instead. 

It’s different this year because Natasha is with her.  Normally, she’s fighting all the stuff from work that’s in her head.  This time though, it’s easier to push it away.  Natasha is smiling at her from across the table where they sit with the pasta she spent the afternoon making on plates between them.  


	39. Medical Assistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “Are…are you even qualified for surgery?” “In no way, shape, or form. But how hard can it be?”

She’d gotten away, but she still has a bullet in her shoulder.  Fortunately, she knows someone with a lot of experience with bullets.  

Maria had gotten the asset clear, but had caught one in the back after she had cleaned up the safe house.  Somehow it had been compromised and they’d had to move fast.  She had let her guard down for only a second.  She had her car door open and had caught movement in her driver’s side mirror.  Darting around to the other side, she had ducked for cover, but the window shattered and the bullet hit her in the shoulder, sending her jerking forward towards the pavement.  She quickly recovered, turned, and returned fire, killing the shooter.  But then she had to get away.  It’s only when she has to decide where to go that the adrenaline fade and she starts to feel the pain raging in her shoulder.  

Natasha opens her door and leads her to a chair in the kitchen.  She pulls out a fully stocked first aid kit from somewhere and starts to help Maria take off her jacket and shirt.  The jacket is hard but manageable but her shirt they wind up cutting off.  This is something Maria has done for Natasha numerous times, but the former assassin always heals quick and with very little scarring.  Still, she can’t contain the flinch or hiss at the feel of alcohol being poured on to the wound.  

“It’s still in there” says Natasha softly, because it’s just the two of them and she’s concentrating on what she’s doing.  Maria nods, not knowing what else to say.  She sees Natasha reach for the scalpel and tweezers.  

“Are… are you even qualified for surgery?” asks Maria, beginning to second guess her decision.  

“In no way, shape, or form.  But how hard can it be?  Besides, this is hardly surgery” says Natasha, entirely focused at the job at hand.  Maria grits her teeth as she feels Natasha gently prod the wound with the scalpel to see how deep it was.  Using the scalpel to hold some of the skin and muscle back, Natasha manages to pull the bullet out.  Then it’s just a matter of disinfectant and being stitched up.  The process happens in silence.  Natasha then goes and get Maria a shirt from her room.  

It’s tossed to her and she catches it with her good arm.  Turning it over she realizes it’s her own shirt, one that Natasha stole at one point or another.  She looks up at Natasha who simply shrugs.  Maria does her best to pull on the shirt herself and when she manages to pull her head through, Natasha is setting a sandwich in front of her.  

“Get some rest after.  Liho will look after you while I take care of a few things, but I’ll be back soon.  You better be in bed when I get back” says Natasha with a pointed look.  Maria merely nods.  She wolfs down the sandwich and then trudges her way to Nat’s room.  Curling up into the sheets, her eyes begin to feel heavy.  There’s a weight on the bed and she turns her head to see Liho watching her intently for a moment.  After a few seconds, Liho curls up into a ball next to her head, still watching her carefully.  

Natasha returns later with a bag of Maria’s things and having cleared up the situation with Sharon tying up any loose ends from earlier.  She walks in to see Liho watching Maria sleep.  Carefully, she crawls in next to her.  


	40. Mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's been mistletoe set up all around the tower. Tony swears up and down it's not him. But more and more arrive and well... there's been some hot kisses. Steve stil can't look Sam in the eye. Unsurprisingly, Natasha's able to avoid all the mistletoe.

Stupid fucking plant.  Maria has swatted at the thing more times than she can count.  It’s as if Stark Tower is infested with the stupid plant.  Happy Hogan starts down the hallway but at her narrowed eyes he abruptly does an about face.  She’d slugged him the first time he’d tried to kiss her.  

Steve has left the tower all together.  Clint never really cares who he gets caught with and gives them a comically sloppy kiss on the cheek.  Maria had gotten caught with Pietro and thankfully he’d given her a kiss on the forehead.  She’d given him in return and ruffled his hair.  Smart kid.  He hadn’t seen her hit Happy, but he knew better than to press his luck.  

Vision had had no qualms about kissing Banner, but Bruce seemed paralyzed.  One minute he was walking and reading Scientific American and then he was being kissed.  He missed something.  

Natasha had managed to keep herself clear and Maria is envious.  Maria turns down another hallway and spots that very person at the end of the hall under one of the stupid sprigs.  Maria raises an eyebrow.  

“Careful, Happy is making rounds just for a chance like this” warns Maria teasingly.  

“And if I happen to be waiting for someone?” asks Natasha.  

“Please say it isn’t Happy.”  Natasha pulls a face.  Reaching out, the red head tugs on Maria’s hand to pull her close.  Maria leans down and gently brushes her lips against Natasha’s.  Natasha pulls back for a moment and turn her head. 

“Wilson, if you plan on living, you will delete that photo and disappear” barks Natasha.  Maria grins as Natasha’s hand wraps around her neck and pulls her in again.  


End file.
